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| Hearing God's Voice; Ref: Roberty Holmes | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 23 2006, 12:15 PM (123 Views) | |
| Stace4Jesus | Oct 23 2006, 12:15 PM Post #1 |
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This brother has really been a blessing to me in my walk with Jesus, Check out his page found at the bottom of the articles. HEARING GOD’S VOICE (1 of 5) “Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life saying, ‘Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years’.” (2 Kings 8:1). This is such powerful insight, and helpful advice coming from Elisha. This is practical revelation – stay where you can, in the knowledge that there is a seven year famine coming. Bunker down; get prepared. Elisha listened to God’s voice, and brought it to the people who needed help. How did Elisha hear? How does anyone hear the voice of God? This passage does not specify, but the Old and New Testaments are full of examples of how people heard God. There are more than 60 ways God gives guidance in the Bible. Most of them are explicitly mentioned, and many of them are ignored or poorly understood in the Church today. There is a solid focus on reading God’s word, understanding dreams, and in some circles, of receiving and sharing visions and prophetic utterance, but the rich diversity of God’s communication goes well beyond this. PERCEIVING GOD Because God is God, He speaks as He chooses, when He chooses, to whom He chooses. We do not necessarily start in the “impression” category and work our way up to open visions. People at any level of maturity can see a vision, and even the most mature saint will still receive impressions from God. Sometimes the language of the Scripture is indistinct – it does not readily allow us to understand the mechanism by which the person is hearing God’s voice. For example, Paul “decided in the Spirit” (Acts 19:21) but we are not told how. Some of the most important theological decisions made in the New Testament do not include the how of hearing. For example, when “The Spirit set apart Paul and Barnabus” (Acts 13:2) and, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and also to us.” (Acts 15:28). We must not try to categorise such events, important as they are, because God has not told us the media or the method of communication. The purpose of this chapter is to distinguish what God is communicating from that which we ourselves are inventing (with our mind or soul). 1. IMPRESSIONS 1.1 A simple impression A simple impression can easily be mistaken for indigestion! It is a very quiet perception inside; so quiet we may not notice it, unless we know it might be God. That impression may be, “Turn left at the next intersection,” or simply, “Call your wife,” and it comes with an urgency or desire rising up to do something. Elijah may be referring to such a still and quiet voice in his encounter with God on the mountain, “And after the fire came a gentle whisper, and Elijah perceived it.” (1 Kings 19:13). Impressions are fleeting; they are easily missed or written off as our imagination. I had an impression one day to drive a different way to work. I found out when I got there, that the road I would normally have used was flooded. 1.2 A strong impression A strong impression comes as a moving of God upon our instincts, a rush of adrenaline, an impulse from the Spirit to do something. It is stronger than an impression; there is urgency, a pressing. We are not told how, but Paul and his friends were, “Kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” (Acts 16:6). One can take the blowing of the wind as a sign of its presence, though you cannot see it. (John 3:8) People born of the Spirit are like a boat pushed along by the breeze. Strong impressions are more difficult to ignore but are usually dismissed. 1.3. Compelling/ impelling We can be outwardly compelled, or inwardly “impelled” to do something. When people speak of “being led,” they are referring to the Word of the Lord impelling them to do something. “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Mathew 4:1). Likewise, “The two of them were sent on their way by the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 13:4). Being impelled is like having an inward pulling, as though God had put a rope through a nose ring and was leading us forward. We are urged forward, our feet walk before our mind has really connected and evaluated the situation. Jeremiah described the fire in his bones, impelling him to speak, (Jeremiah 20:9) and Hosea said when the lion roared he was compelled to speak. (Amos 3:8) 2. CASTING LOTS I include this for completeness. The practice of casting lots is not widely encouraged in the Bible. Of the 25 times it is referred to, only twice is it a godly thing. Only once does God command a person to cast lots. (Leviticus 16:8) The modern day equivalent would be to toss a coin. This form of guidance is fraught with danger, and the possibility of divine intervention remote. But nevertheless God used it once as a way for men to discern His instruction. There is much debate as to the way the Urim and the Thummim were used, but on occasion they were clearly useful in “making judgments”.( Exodus 28:30) The process of using these articles is not well understood, and speculation is not helpful. 3. CIRCUMSTANTIAL LEADING Many people rely upon circumstances lining up to lead them. Though we may not hear God’s voice in our spirit, we trust He will shape events to lead us. We rely on the fact that, “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.” (Psalm 37:23). The beggar who sat at the temple gate Beautiful all his life must have seen the Lord Jesus come and go on numerous occasions. One day, “When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.” (Acts 3:3). This act led to his healing. I do not believe in coincidence; I believe in God’s orchestration. Do remember, however, the devil can also orchestrate events, making it appear that things are lining up. Using circumstance alone to guide us is not infallible. 4. ENIGMATIC SAYINGS 4.1 Dark speech When Aaron and Miriam were railing against their brother, the Lord defended His servant, saying He spoke with Moses face to face as a friend. Conversely, He spoke to the prophets, “In dreams, in visions, and dark sayings.” (Numbers 12:6). This is otherwise translated dark speech or mysteries. “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” (Proverbs 25:2). There have been many times the Lord has dropped just one word into my heart. At other times I have received a phrase used in the military, such as “lock and load” and I have had to search out its meaning. 4.2 Parables To have seen Jesus was to have seen the Father, and to have heard Jesus was to have heard God. A parable is a kind of mystery. Jesus made extensive use of parables in His teaching style. “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old.” (Psalm 78:2). Samson used a parable to fool his detractors. Parables are given so that those who have no particular interest to learn will walk away, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that, ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand’.” (Mark 4:11,12). 4.3 Word plays There are several times in Scripture in which the Lord uses a word play. For example, He says, “ ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word’.” (Jeremiah 1:11,12). Jeremiah says he sees an almond branch (shaqed) and God says He is ready to perform (shaqad) His will. These two words are pronounced the same way. A modern day example would be for God to say, “What do you see,” and for you to reply, “I see a watch,” to which God would say, “You have seen well for I am watching over my word.” 4.4 His disguised voice God sometimes disguises His voice, by speaking to us through another person. God particularly rejoices in using unsaved or unsanctified people. Hollywood (at times) speaks the word of the Lord loudly. Movies like Braveheart, or the Matrix spoke to the Church strongly. God called the king of Babylon “My servant” (Jeremiah 27:6). Pilate’s wife rebuked him after having a vexing dream about Jesus (Mathew 27:19) and King Abimelech rebuked Abraham for deceiving him. (Genesis 20:3-9) In modern times we must be prepared to hear the Lord speaking through a boss, co-worker or political leader – even when they might not be aware of it themselves. (to be continued) ------------------------------ WEBSITE Storm-Harvest Ministries http://www. storm-harvest.asn.au MODERATORS Robert I Holmes and Mario Liu email prophet ic@storm-harvest.asn.au |
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| TheGloryisHere | Oct 24 2006, 07:04 PM Post #2 |
Servant-Scribe of Lord Jesus
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This is really good! Thanks for posting it. 
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12:34 AM Nov 27
